More

Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla of Puerto Rico dropped a bombshell on debt holders a week ago by saying he wanted to restructure debt and postpone bond payments. He urged changes to U.S. bankruptcy laws that currently exclude Puerto Rico. Like U.S. states, Puerto Rico cannot file for bankruptcy protection.

WASHINGTON, April 24- Aiming to acquire more budget powers and take a swipe at Obamacare, Republicans will likely scrap a proposal that stirred controversy and helped launch Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan on the national stage: privatizing the Medicare health program. Ryan's bold Medicare "premium support" plan would be sacrificed to ensure passage of...

Sen. Chuck Grassley says IRS officials targeted political candidates for audits, and a major player in the Mexican drug trade has been caught. CNBC's Josh Lipton has tonight's headlines; and Retired General and former drug czar Barry McCaffrey, weighs in.

CNBC's Eamon Javers reports the IRS is now poised to pay $70 million in bonuses to some employees. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) says the report is accurate. "The priorities at the agency are certainly not the taxpayers," he says.

Oct 25- Medical device maker Medtronic Inc edited health journal articles and paid doctors millions of dollars for company-sponsored studies of its Infuse bone-grafting product used in spinal surgery, according to a U.S. Senate report published on Thursday.

Ex-Inspector General David Kotz was friends with people close to his investigations related to two high-profile Ponzi schemes, and he had a flirtatious relationship with an SEC employee who was involved in another project involving Kotz's office, according to the report.

By Sarah N. Lynch and Alexandra Alper. WASHINGTON, Oct 2- Two Senate Republicans on Tuesday slammed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for failing to wean U.S. firms off a key British benchmark interest rate that he knew was being rigged, resulting, the lawmakers said, in costly litigation that hurts American taxpayers.

By Sarah N. Lynch and Alexandra Alper. WASHINGTON, Oct 2- Two Senate Republicans on Tuesday slammed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for failing to wean U.S. firms off a key British benchmark interest rate that he knew was being rigged, resulting, the lawmakers said, in costly litigation that hurts American taxpayers.

Grassley's letter comes as the Justice Department, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the United Kingdom's Financial Services Authority continue to probe whether banks colluded to manipulate the London interbank offered rate, which underpins trillion of dollars in contracts and loans-- from U.S. mortgages to Japanese interest-rate swaps.

The tenth annual OffshoreAlert gathering brings together financial advisers, Cayman and other offshore bankers, and government officials. But much of the attention - and criticism -has been on the presence of 19 IRS officials.